Thursday, June 24, 2010

Just one of the many little jobs I need to get through in a day...here I am adding the Swarovski crystal detail to the center of some pretty little flowers. This is for a wholesale job and will eventually end up as the trim on a little straw hat...only 120 to go !

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Some works in progress, love the combination of black/cream. I have used a strong 'pearlized' vintage cotton here for the feature stitching.

Stitching rows gradually build up - I am not expert at getting all the rows perfectly even as I tend to run the machine too fast being an impatient modern girl but I think it all works out in the long run. When I was doing my Millinery training at Philip Somerville in London, England there was an old milliner called Edith who used to specialize in this type of work and I can now see that this is necessary. As I only attempt this type of work every now and again I am not a perfect machinist. Edith used to make the ENTIRE hat using this method including the crown. I tend to only use it as a feature. This is a work in progress and I will be adding to the detail so I'll keep you posted.Keep your cotton ends all in check as this will save time with trimming them off in the long run.Just some snaps of other stitched detail hats I am working on at the moment. Look at the amazingly lovely long even stitches my old 'singer' manages - it makes this type of work a breeze as it is so solid and dependable - don't forget to fill TWO bobbins with your cotton FIRST so that if you run out out you have another ready to go.

I attach the ribbon by stitching in place from the underside hiding all the stitches under the headfitting.

Where the ribbon meets I decide to have a small feature in the center of the ribbons, this is just the same ribbon width however I have folded it so that it is narrower as this always looks better.

Using pins I decide where I have to curve the ribbon with the iron and where I will stop the curve and have the ribbon straight so that it sits flat on the brim.

Matching the ribbon for around the crown luckily I have the exact colour in a vintage petersham. I have also heavily stitched this ribbon so that it matches in both colour and texture.

Stitching from the underside is trimmed of loose ends.

You have to be prepared to squish the crown to get the stitching where you want it. No stiffener on this brim (some slight sizing on the crown) and so it is all quite flexible - my trusty ol 'singer' is perfect for this job as she will stitch any thickness and gives a beautiful even long stitch length.Working out the pattern I used a silver pencil so I had a rough guide for my stitches, pins are there also just as a guide and as I draw with the silver pencil I remove the pins as pins in a brim while you are doing this intense stitching can throw you off and cause your stitching to go haywire. I want the stitching to emulate a ribbon detail that you would find on a 1940's style hat.

Making hats for the shop and this is how I go about making a felt hat with stitched detail. The colour of the hat and stitching pretty much needs to be spot on as I think it looks better unless it is decided that a contrast would be good ie. black with cream stitching. I made this hat from a lovely burgandy coloured Peach bloom hood. The cotton I have stitched with matches perfectly as does the ribbon I have used on the headfitting and hat band.

Millinery Classes next classes April & June 2013

Come and join our friendly team in Julie's large light filled studio in Prahran. Learn how to make hats with like minded people ! We guarantee you will enjoy the hand making process and you will be able to expand your knowledge of hand making hats and special trims.